Welcome to Day 3 of the government shutdown. The Senate was holding no votes yesterday because of Yom Kippur, the Jewish high holiday that is a time of atonement.
So far, it seems there is no chance for reconciliation between the Democrats and Republicans. Democrats want Republicans to include an extension of expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. Republicans want that conversation to begin after the government reopens, and generally are averse to the program that Barack Obama signed into law.
While there seems to be no end in sight, government shutdowns are ultimately about which side can tolerate the most pain before they cry “uncle.”
President Donald Trump has vowed since the shutdown to “clear out deadwood, waste and fraud” in government and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the intellectual godfather of Project 2025, has canceled projects in Democrat run, so-called blue states.
The pain might ultimately cause enough Democrats to cross the aisle and cut a deal. Republicans would need five Democrats to join them, considering Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opposes any continuing resolutions and most spending bills and three members of the Democratic caucus — Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), John Fetterman (D-Penn.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) — have already voted with them.
Here are five likely Democratic candidates to do just that.
Tim Kaine and Mark Warner: The Virginians
Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have the most interesting perspective of any of the Democratic senators. Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers. They simultaneously have faced the business end of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
But in the same token, even more federal workers risk losing their jobs during a shutdown. As former governors, Kaine and Warner know the pain their constituents have and do feel.
“It's like, wait they’re doing it anyway,” Kaine told The Independent of the Trump administration’s policy. Kaine said that Virginians believe Trump will not stop cutting workers unless the courts stop him. Warner said that the reductions in force (RIFs) had demoralized federal workers already.
“I'm not saying it's going to be the case three weeks from now, two weeks from now, but they had felt so brutalized that they felt like they were under already constant threat of being RIF-ed, and there was an overwhelming ‘you got to push back,’” Warner told The Independent.
To Warner’s point, it all depends how long a shutdown continues. The longer it goes on and the longer people go without paychecks, the more Virginia’s economy will hurt. There’s also the fact that next month, Virginia will have its gubernatorial election and Democrats hope Abigail Spanberger will win back the governor’s mansion after Glenn Youngkin won in 2021. Keeping the government shut for too long might hurt her chances of victory.
Chris Coons: The military’s pursekeeper
As a young man, Chris Coons interned for his home state senator — Joe Biden. And when Biden would resign his Senate seat to become Barack Obama’s vice president, Coons won Biden’s old seat.
As a result, he still practices the style of civility politics that Biden championed. Coons is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense, meaning he works with its chairman, former majority leader Mitch McConnell.
On Tuesday evening, as he walked onto the floor of the Senate, he and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) were talking about whether U.S. servicemembers would be paid during a shutdown. Republicans could likely make hay out of military servicemembers missing a paycheck and say Democrats don’t like the military.
In the olden days, then-Senate Majroity Leader Mitch McConnell used to tell Obama, “Get Joe on the phone,” when it was time to fix a problem. “Get Chris on the phone,” may be current Majority Leader John Thune’s new calling card.
Gary Peters: The retiree
Democrats are opposed to voting on a “clean” continuing resolution because their voters are furious at them for rolling over to Trump. But, as Janis Joplin sang many years ago, “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
This might be where the retirees come into play. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) will not seek re-election.
He voted for the continuing resolution in March with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer despite the fact that the majority of the caucus voted against it.
The fact he will not need to answer to primary voters could serve as an advantage.
Note: New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is in the same boat and could easily be a wildcard here.
Sen. Jon Ossoff: The most endangered Democrat
Of all these Senators, Sen. Jon Ossoff is perhaps in the most difficult position.
Trump won Georgia last year and he is up for re-election next year. Georgia is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been under assault from the Trump administration, most recently with the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.
That puts him in a bind.
Ossoff voted against the March continuing resolution and has made opposing Trump a hallmark of his re-election campaign. But if enough people lose their jobs, he might feel like he has little choice and protecting workers his priority.
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